Stop Motion Studio vs PixelThat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stop Motion Studio
Easily create stop motion animations and films with powerful editing tools. Capture every frame with manual camera controls, add sound and effects, and share your creations in high definition. Suitable for beginners and experienced animators alike.
- Onion skinning and animation guides
- Frame-by-frame editing
- Manual camera controls
- Voiceover and sound effects
- Green screen effects
- 4K export
- Remote camera control
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Join 25 million creators making stop motion animation with ease. Stop Motion Studio is the Apple-featured app for creating stunning stop motion films. Enjoy powerful creative tools with no ads, no tracking, and no subscriptions. Stop Motion Studio is the easiest and most powerful stop motion animation maker for iPhone and iPad. Create beautiful animated films with LEGO, clay, drawings, or everyday objects — no experience required. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned animator, Stop Motion Studio gives you everything you need to turn your ideas into motion. Loved by Millions Worldwide * Over 25 million creators and counting * Rated 4.7 stars with more than 65,000 reviews * Featured in Apple’s “Life on iPad” TV commercial “Stop Motion Studio makes it easy to create your own stop-motion movies.” – The Washington Post “Brings out the LEGO moviemaking geek in all of us.” – TechNewsWorld Create and Edit with Precision * Onion skinning and animation guides for perfect alignment * Interactive timeline and frame-by-frame editing * Copy, paste, cut, and insert frames with ease * Rotoscoping: draw over videos for unique effects * Built-in drawing tools, text cards, and speech bubbles * Erase unwanted objects and add facial expressions or layers * Merge frames to simulate motion blur or speed effects Capture Every Frame * Full manual camera controls: focus, exposure, ISO, and white balance * Timelapse capture mode for automatic shooting * Use your Apple Watch or another device as a remote camera Add Sound and Style * Record voiceovers and narration directly in the app * Add sound effects, background music, or import from your library * Use filters, fades, and transitions for cinematic results * Green screen effects let you place characters anywhere Share Your Masterpiece * Export your films in 4K or 1080p HD * Share directly to YouTube, TikTok, or save as a GIF or iMessage sticker * Transfer projects via AirDrop, iCloud, or Dropbox * Start on iPhone and finish on Mac — your work stays in sync Learn and Improve * Step-by-step tutorials and creative tips included * Built-in manual for quick guidance and inspiration Yours to Create No ads. No tracking. No subscriptions. Your data stays private and your creativity stays yours. Download Stop Motion Studio today. Join millions of creators and bring your imagination to life — one frame at a time. * Some features require in-app purchases. All features are already included in the Pro version.
PixelThat
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PixelThat turns a photo into crisp pixel art or ASCII art, right on your iPhone. Point it at a picture and it does the work a pixel artist would do: it finds the face and frames it the way an avatar is framed, lifts the subject off the background so the edges stay clean, and flattens the colours to a small, deliberate palette chosen from the picture itself, with faces weighted so skin tones survive. Only then does it lay down the pixels. Everything runs on your device. There is no account, no upload and no queue. The app contains no networking code at all, so it works with the network switched off. ASCII ART MODE • Switch the same photo to characters: classic, colour, blocks, Braille dots or your own words • Choose how many characters across, and add grain and glow for a film look • Copy it as text, save it as a picture, or make it move as a short looping video AVATARS THAT FIND THE FACE • Auto framing puts the head where an avatar's head belongs • Or drag the selection box yourself: move it, pinch it, tap to jump • Square, rounded or circle, with a 1 to 4 pixel frame in any colour BACKGROUNDS ON YOUR TERMS • Transparent, a flat colour, a two-colour gradient, a pixel-art blue sky with clouds, or keep the photo • On-device subject cutout with a threshold, grow and shrink, and a live preview when it needs a nudge PALETTES WORTH KEEPING • A palette built from your own picture, in CIELAB, with faces weighted • Paste your own hex colours • Floyd-Steinberg and ordered 2x2, 4x4 and 8x8 dithering FINE CONTROL WHEN YOU WANT IT • Sizes from 8 to 256 pixels, or any width from 4 to 512, with the common sizes previewed side by side • Auto levels, ink edges and outlines • Contrast, saturation, brightness and gamma • Fine zoom, pan and mirror • Hold to compare with your photo, with undo and redo RECENTS THAT REMEMBER Every picture you keep is filed with the settings that made it. Tap it later to put those settings on a different photo, which is how you make a set of avatars that match. EXPORT Save the enlarged copy to Photos, which is what most sites want for an avatar, or share both the real pixels and the enlargement. PRIVACY PixelThat collects nothing. No account, no analytics, no advertising identifier, no tracking and no network requests of any kind.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PixelThat at none against Stop Motion Studio's 1. PixelThat also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks). Stop Motion Studio's advantage is chart position (#138 vs unranked). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Stop Motion Studio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PixelThat asks for nothing beyond the download.
Stop Motion Studio ships an update every 2 weeks, PixelThat every 6 days. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | Stop Motion Studio | PixelThat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (82K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 78.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 82K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | #138 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 179 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CATEATER, LLC | Mohammed Shehada |
Bugs and requests
Stop Motion Studio
Reported bugs
5 issues- Camera shaking/blurry issues
- Sound not working properly
- Frames skipping or lagging
- Inability to restore deleted projects
- Inconsistent performance across devices
Requested features
5 requests- More free features and effects
- Improved erasing and editing tools
- Ability to import photos and videos
- More sound effects and audio options
- Easier way to add text and titles
PixelThat
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Stop Motion Studio
- All Features Forever$5.99
PixelThat
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Stop Motion Studio free?
Is PixelThat free?
Do Stop Motion Studio or PixelThat have ads?
Which is updated more often, Stop Motion Studio or PixelThat?
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